Head Cold & Home Remedies
by Abnegation Ravenclaw
Summary: Jason is laid up with a miserable cold, and Piper tries to help her sick boyfriend feel better. Set sometime during the Mark of Athena, probably.


**Hello friends! I'm back with another story! Hopefully my next one will be Christmas themed, but we'll see. Any requests?**

 **anyway, enjoy. :)**

* * *

No. No. _No_.

"I can't be sick," Jason muttered, coughing. He'd woken up feeling like he'd been run over by a truck. How was this even possible? Other than a scratchy throat, he'd felt completely fine yesterday. He got up, shivering as he lost the warmth of the blankets, and made his way to the bathroom. In the mirror, he looked worse than he thought he did. His eyes were red and bloodshot, he had bags under his eyes, his nose was running, and he was flushed. Oh, gods. He looked almost as bad as he felt.

Jason blew his nose and dug through the medicine cabinet for a thermometer. He took his temperature, sighing when the device read 101 degrees. He started coughing again, and someone knocked on the door.

"Jason," Piper called. "Hurry up. Meeting in five minutes in the mess hall."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Jason tried his best to not sound sick, but congestion was creeping into his voice. He hurriedly brushed his teeth, then, as an afterthought, slipped a few tissues into the pockets of his pajama pants before heading down to the mess hall.

"What happened to you?" Percy eyed him critically as he sat down.

"Uh... Overslept." Jason replied. It wasn't a lie; he actually had overslept, but only because he was sick, and he was not about to show weakness. No doubt he'd be sent back to bed the minute someone put two and two together.

"Okay," Annabeth said, beginning to explain the plan for the day. Jason wasn't listening; he was too distracted with how terrible he felt. He held a tissue to his leaking nose as everyone spoke.

"So we'll have Percy, Frank, and Jason go-" Annabeth was interrupted by Jason's sneeze. "Bless you, Jason."

He sneezed again. Gods of Olympus, this cold was making him miserable.

"Well..." Annabeth pondered. "Maybe Jason shouldn't go. There are a few sirens nearby, and we don't want him getting any worse."

"I'm good," Jason protested, in between coughs.

"No, you're not." Piper put her hand on his arm. "You have a cold, by the looks of it, and you need to rest."

"I'll be- _ACHOO_!- fine." He sniffled.

"If you have a fever, you're going to bed." Piper said sternly, placing her palm on his forehead with a sigh. "Just what I thought. Go rest."

Jason saw no point in arguing anymore, as he actually did feel terrible, so he slowly got up from the table and walked to his bedroom, where he collapsed onto the bed. His throat was sore, there was a dull ache in his head, and his nose was hopelessly stuffed up, but he didn't want to be stuck in bed. Jason felt so useless.

A little while later, Piper came in to check on him, bringing a bowl of something, a glass of water, and some pills.

"Soup," she said. "And medicine to bring your fever down. How are you feeling?"

"I can't stop coughing, I can't breathe through my nose, my throat hurts-" Jason paused to cough.

"Here, swallow this." Piper pressed two pills into his palm and handed him the glass of water. Once Jason had taken the medicine, Piper put the bowl of soup into his lap. He took a few bites.

"You know, this soup is probably great, but I can't taste anything at the moment." Jason sniffled.

"Just finish the soup, Sparky. Chicken soup is supposed to help fight colds."

After finishing the soup, Jason rolled over onto his side. Then he moved to his back. Then he shifted to his other side.

"Something wrong?" Piper asked.

"I can't breathe." He complained.

"I'll be right back." Piper got up, kissed his forehead, and left the room. Jason curled up on his side, coughing. Piper returned a few minutes later with a container of something.

"What is that?" Jason asked.

"Take off your shirt."

" _Excuse_ me?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Just do it."

Jason pulled his shirt off, and Piper sat down next to him on his bed. She opened the container, which smelled really strongly, dipped her fingers in it, and rubbed it on his chest. Immediately, his chest felt less tight, and he could breathe a little easier. Piper then put a small amount of the stuff underneath his nose, which, amazingly, seemed to clear his congestion slightly.

"Vapor rub." Piper explained. "Uh... You can put your shirt back on."

"Oh, right." Jason blushed and pulled his purple T-shirt back on.

"Now get some sleep, you dork." Piper smiled and kissed his cheek. Jason grinned as he leaned back against the pillows, which were propped up a little so that he could breathe, and drifted off.

When he woke up, disoriented, Jason got out of bed, wrapped a blanket around himself, and headed to the bathroom. He found the thermometer that he'd used earlier and put it under his tongue. While he waited for the reading, Jason studied his reflection. He didn't look any worse than he had earlier, at least, but he didn't exactly look better. Less tired, maybe, but despite the fact that he'd just slept for a while, he still felt exhausted.

The thermometer beeped, and Jason took it out of his mouth to read it. _100.8_. So it had gone down somewhat. That was improvement, more or less. He grabbed a handful of tissues and headed back to his bedroom.

Not long after he'd climbed back in bed and crawled under the many layers of blankets he'd piled on himself earlier, Piper knocked on the door, then came in before he could get up and answer it.

"Hey, you're awake." She said. "How're you feeling?"

Jason shrugged. "So-so, I guess."

"That good, huh?" Piper laughed. "Still can't breathe?"

He nodded. "My nose is so stuffed." He grabbed a tissue and blew his nose, but it didn't do much good; he was still hopelessly stuffed up.

* * *

"Are you sure this'll help?" Jason asked. Piper had him breathing in a humidifier from under a towel to try and ease his congestion.

"I'm sure," she said. "It'll just take a little while for-"

"ACHOO!" Jason sneezed violently and grabbed a tissue to wipe his nose. "ACHOO! ACHOO! Is this what's- ACHOO- supposed to happen?"

He blew his nose, and Piper cringed. Jason just sounded so sick, and it was kind of gross to hear all of the snot exiting his body.

"Hey," Jason announced, coughing. "I can breathe, sort of. Your home remedies really do work, Pipes."

The rest of the day consisted of Jason laying in bed, wiping his still-running nose with a tissue and buried under a dozen blankets. Piper made him drink various herbal teas in an attempt to soothe his sore throat, and she was an excellent supplier of tissues for her sick boyfriend.

"I think I feel better." Jason remarked. "Can I kiss you now?"

"No chance, Sparky." Piper retorted, much to his disappointment. "You're still contagious, and I don't want your cold."

* * *

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

 **Also, any ideas for a Christmas themed story are appreciated as well. :)**


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